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Escobar relieved hand is bruised, not broken

Rays shortstop day to day after being hit by pitch in Saturday's loss

5/4/13: Yunel Escobar is hit by a Jon Garland pitch and is forced to exit the game

By Owen Perkins
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Special to MLB.com |

DENVER -- Rays shortstop Yunel Escobar left Saturday's 9-3 loss to the Rockies with a bruised left hand after he was hit by a pitch in the second inning from right-hander Jon Garland.

On a 1-2 count, a fastball got away from Garland and hit Escobar on his left hand in his first plate appearance. Escobar was removed for pinch-runner Ryan Roberts, who stayed in the game at second base. Ben Zobrist moved from second over to short.

Escobar went to a local hospital for X-rays, and returned to Coors Field when the results came up negative. He's considered day to day.

"I thought I broke my hand," Escobar said, with bench coach Dave Martinez translating. "It swelled up fairly fast, and I thought it was broken. I was very grateful and happy that it wasn't broken, and I'm going to try to get back on the field as soon as possible."

Escobar is hitting .174 with a pair of home runs and seven RBIs this season. He was building momentum, hitting safely in nine of his last 11 games and hitting .268 (1-for-41) during the span after a .089 (4-for-45) start to his season.

Escobar missed four games from April 25-28 after leaving a game against the Yankees on April 24 with right hamstring tightness.

"It's definitely two-to-three days that he cannot play," manager Joe Maddon said. "So we just have to manipulate."

Saturday's manipulation contributed to a five-run seventh inning, when Zobrist double-clutched and made an errant throw to first on a Michael Cuddyer grounder, extending a Rockies two-out rally. The play was initially ruled an error on Zobrist, but was changed to a hit.

Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.